Since the new Entry/Exit System (EES) was fully introduced earlier this month, travellers have been caught up in long airport queues and some have even missed flights.
But, in a bid to tackle the chaos and make things easier for families and those with disabilities, Spanish hubs have brought in some new rules.
AENA, the Spanish airport authority, has requested that workers help vulnerable passengers and families with young children avoid the queues.
Holidaymakers that fall under such category will be allowed to skip the biometric machines if the line is longer than 25 minutes, and head straight to passport control instead, The Sun reports.
The new EES means many UK passengers will now need to register biometric details, such as fingerprints and facial recognition images, when entering the Schengen Area.
The added checks have slowed processing times at some of the busiest airports in Europe and led to long queues.
Alicante Airport is one of Spain’s busiest hubs and the country’s police union recently reported the airport is being pushed to ‘breaking point’ over the EES system and lack of staff, according to the Olive Press.
Meanwhile Málaga Airport has also been impacted and last week, a British holidaymaker was left stranded in the hub with her daughter after missing her flight.
Michelle Maguire, 38, and her daughter were due to fly back from Malaga to Liverpool on Saturday evening but did not make it home until 24 hours later after getting held up in travel chaos which eventually cost the family £1,000.
The new Entry/Exit System has caused chaos in some airports, creating long queues and wait times. Pictured is Malaga Airport
Ms Maguire painted the picture of a packed airport engulfed in bedlam with anxious travellers jostling for position and attempting to get through passport control via different entrances.
‘Everyone was panicking. Everyone was getting frustrated,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘Kids were crying.
‘There was no one attending the crowd which was making it worse. People were coming out and coming back in.’
Passengers that have recently travelled to Barcelona-El Prat Airport at peak hours have reportedly experienced lengthy queues.
On Reddit, a parent shared how they were forced to stand in line with their crying children for more than three hours with ‘nowhere to go other than the restroom’, while alleging airport staff did ‘nothing to help’.
Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, was Spain’s first hub to have rolled out the EES system in October 2025, and it appears EES queues are more controlled than at other Spanish hubs.
Many passengers have reported short queues, with priority lines for children, although some claim that machines at the Madrid airport can be ‘sensitive’.
One person told told The Olive Press: ‘You have to press down hard on the passport for it to read, press fingertips down firmly to register.’
However, another said: ‘From luggage drop-off to gate, it took us about 20 minutes … including biometric capture and passport control.’
In a bid to make things easier for families and those with disabilities, Spanish hubs have brought in some new rules – Barcelona Airport is pictured
Elsewhere, Greece recently pulled the plug on fingerprinting and facial scans to help holidaymakers avoid the chaos.
Eleni Skarveli, director of the Greek National Tourism Organisation in the UK, said the decision would ‘ensure a smoother and more efficient arrival experience in Greece’ and would ‘significantly reduce waiting times’ while easing congestion at airports.
Greece’s decision is widely seen as a strategic move to protect its vital tourism sector, which relies heavily on British visitors flocking to hotspots such as Corfu, Crete and Rhodes – destinations that can each receive more than 2,000 UK arrivals per day during peak season.
With no confirmed end date for the exemption, speculation is mounting that other Mediterranean countries could follow suit.
Travel experts say the change may already be influencing holiday plans.
A spokesman for ABTA noted: ‘Because of the war in the Middle East, Europe is seeing a big increase in interest as a holiday destination this year.’
The organisation expects Greece to rank as the fifth most popular destination for Britons this summer, behind Spain, France, Italy and the United States.
‘I think it’s too early to say what this change might mean for the number of people visiting, particularly as decisions on where to go are based on a number of factors,’ the spokesman added.